Old City Hall opened in 1882 with a clock tower rising 92 feet. Its first floor contained administrative offices, the police department, the jail, and the fire department, while the second floor held a 1,050-seat auditorium known as the Opera House. It served as the city's social center for graduations and theatrical productions, and John Philip Sousa led his band there in “Stars and Stripes Forever.” Other figures who appeared there included Mark Twain, William McKinley, temperance advocate Carrie Nation, statesman William Jennings Bryan, Hollywood director Vincente Minnelli, Ben Hur author General Lew Wallace, and abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher. On February 24, 1934, the structure was destroyed by fire, and exactly three years later, on February 24, 1937, the current City Hall was dedicated and opened after costing $95,000 to build.

Photo: William Fischer, Jr.

Photo: William Fischer, Jr.

Photo: William Fischer, Jr.

Photo: William Fischer, Jr.

Photo: William Fischer, Jr.